Drivers stumped by simple car maintenance

Changing a headlamp or replacing a fan belt was once a routine task for many
motorists, but now even the simplest maintenance job is beyond most car
owners.

“The days of changing oil, filters and replacing light bulbs on the driveway are fast becoming a thing of the past – in some cases, they already are,” said Duncan McClure Fisher, Warranty Direct’s managing directorPhoto: ALAMY

As cars become “computers on wheels”, do-it-yourself repairs are becoming a long-lost art, a study has found.

According to research carried out by Warranty Direct shows part of the problem is down to cars becoming more complex.

For example changing a headlamp on a Renault Clio now takes a professional mechanic 96 minutes.

Even on a Ford Fiesta this mundane task will take half an hour, while a professional mechanic needs 36 minutes to change the car’s engine oil and a filter.

“The days of changing oil, filters and replacing light bulbs on the driveway are fast becoming a thing of the past – in some cases, they already are,” said Duncan McClure Fisher, Warranty Direct’s managing director.”

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Unable to carry out these tasks themselves, car owners are paying millions of pounds a year to garages to do the work for them, with average labour costs now reaching £96 an hour and some charging as much as £200.

“New, more complicated technologies on cars are placing even more pressure on already strained household budgets,” Mr McClure Fisher added.

For example in 1994 it took 10 minutes to change the headlamp on an Audi A4. with the bulb costing £6.12.

Now, on an equivalent model, it is not only the bulb which has to be replaced, but the whole light cluster, costing more than three times as much and that does not take into account the 45 minutes of a mechanic’s time needed to do the job.

“You can’t do the things you used to do,” said Garel Rhys, president of the society for automotive research at Cardiff University.

“The rot started with sealed beam systems which means you can’t even change a headlamp.”

Last year a survey by roadside rescue company laid bare the level of ignorance of today’s motorist.

It showed that seven drivers out of 10 did not know how to check the engine’s oil level, while one driver in 10 did not even know how to open the car bonnet.

in a poll of its members, the AA found that nine per cent of members had put off even the simplest tasks such as replacing blown bulbs or wiper blades, while more than one in four drivers do not carry out the most basic checks such as oil, water and tyres.

“Doing something about minor faults is certainly a better option than doing nothing,” said an AA spokesman.

“It is an open invitation to get stopped by the police if a bulb is out or windscreen wiper rubber is flapping in the breeze.”

But a spokesman for the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said the trend reflected the greater reliability of modern cars.

“It demonstrates that things have become so advanced. You have gone from a very basic piece of machinery to something which is very sophisticated,” he said.

“You might not be able to change the fan belt yourself, but the upside is you are less likely to have do so in the first place.”